Ms Cathy Smith

A century after women were first admitted to the Bar of Ireland, Senior Counsel Cathy Smith was one of just five women called to the Inner Bar in 2021 by the then Chief Justice of Ireland Frank Clarke and has since been elected to the Council of the Bar of Ireland. In addition to arbitration and mediation, her practice at the bar has been evident in all courts and at all levels (in Ireland and Europe) where she has been central to seminal cases in employment, equality and company law.

In 1995, Cathy Smith graduated from University of Limerick with a BA in European Studies and Law – she also met her husband at UL before going on to attend Kings Inns from ’95 to ’97 where she would be conferred with a Barrister at Law degree.

After travelling for a year, Cathy worked as in-house counsel in commercial roles with IDA Ireland, Jefferson Smurfit Group plc and BDO before entering the Law Library in 2003 where she has been in practice as a barrister since then. In June 2021 Cathy was appointed as a Senior Counsel having been granted a Patent of Precedence by An Taoiseach and later in October of the same year, was called to the Inner Bar.

As an accredited mediator by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, Cathy’s legal expertise has also given her the opportunity to become an arbitrator and she is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, having qualified in international arbitration. Cathy has also sat for several years as an independent arbitrator and chairperson of a Central Bank-approved appeals panel.
As part of her role within the Council of the Bar of Ireland, Cathy also chairs the Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the Bar, having previously sat on the committee for two terms. She is also a member of the Executive Committee of Arbitration Ireland, a board member of the Dublin Dispute Resolution Centre and a member of the Irish National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce.

In 2022 Cathy’s expertise was used for her appointment by the Minister for Enterprise and Trade to the Company Law Review Group. Cathy is also a committee member of the Employment Bar Association and was a member of the Equality, Resilience and Diversity Committee of the Bar of Ireland while holding a membership post with the Irish Women Lawyers Association where she has also sat as its Vice-Chairperson.  

As a published contributor to a number of legal publications and legislation, Cathy is an accomplished speaker as well as contributing to volunteer and pro-bono work on matters addressing the gender pay gap, the promotion of women lawyers as media commentators, chairing a sub-group looking at Article 41.2 of the Constitution, while she was also part of the Irish Women Lawyers Association sub-committee which considered policy proposals on addressing sexual harassment in the context of the higher education sector in Ireland.

Cathy is a volunteer with the Free Legal Advice Centre on whose instructions she has represented many clients on a pro bono basis in seeking to vindicate their equality rights and in particular the rights of persons with disabilities. Cathy has further worked on a pro bono basis for the Public Interest Law Alliance, for whom she has provided legal advice on the employment of migrant workers and the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities.

Originally from Abbeylara in County Longford, Cathy now lives in Clontarf, Dublin with Fergal and their 4 children.